When I started playing Transistor, I was blown away by the music, the game dynamics and the story line. The beautifully designed futuristic strategy game has everything you’d like in an adventure: artful graphics, fluent moves when attacking and a complex yet understandable set of combos and moves to fit your individual style.
The game is narrated by the Transistor, Red’s trusty sword and accomplice, who realizes our heroine has lost her memory and her beautiful singing voice. Reminiscent of “The Little Mermaid”, our silent protagonist begins a quest to get her voice back and to save her world, Cloudbank, from the corruption of The Process and the Camerata, akin to Ursula and her goons. (Although I doubt this was the intention, the thought must have crossed the developer and the players’ minds.)
During each turn, you plan a strategy and execute it by consuming chunks of time from the time bar. Depending on how you fill your upgrade and passive slots, you can accelerate recharging the time bar, modify the time functions consumed and cut the time between each turn. Read the functions well; arming different functions under the upgrade and passive slots gives you a particular effect; it will be described in the stats below the loaded functions. Be thorough and make your own research before copying someone else’s strategy as it may not match your game play type. (Check IGN, GameFAQ, and other walkthroughs if you get stuck or need more info.) Unlocking all trophies requires a second run through, which should be a breeze once you have unlocked all functions and limiters. Note that to avoid losing functions you have to turn off all limiters prior to making a change. Doing so will not affect the counters for the trophies.
If you are still skeptical about purchasing the game, just check all the great reviews and scores (4/5s and 9/10s) in IGN, Game Informer or any magazine or critic you trust. The PlayStation community considers it a Very Hard story and a respectable Platinum, which is a plus since the story is short with excellent replay value. It is not extremely difficult to master, and experienced gamers can complete the tests and the trophy requirements in two playthroughs for a total time of 8 to 10 hrs.
My friends and family liked watching me play because of the melodies. We were all quite impressed by the soundtrack. The ending is not worth spoiling so make sure you take in the story and appreciate each nuance and annoying, yet creatively named enemy.
Now I can proudly say Cloud is not the only hero with a kick-ass sword, although unlike Red, he didn’t have to run and fight in high heels and a short skirt. Definitely my kind of gal. Hehe.
Mrs. Enginerd - Nerd Whisperer 